Dentsply Sirona Clinical Affairs organises one of the largest clinical and most comprehensive education programmes in the dental industry to empower dental professionals to provide better, safer and faster dental care. In 2018 alone, Dentsply Sirona offered 11,835 courses all over the world, in which nearly 432,000 dental professionals participated. 

The global Clinical Affairs team develops the next generation of educational content that supports the implementation of innovative solutions for dental professionals. This clinical education program’s overall objective is to empower dentists, technicians, and dental team members to improve dental care and oral health. Clinical Affairs cooperates with opinion leaders, academic and research communities, and practitioners in their respective local markets. 

2018: Over 330,600 dentists attended
Dentsply Sirona’s courses 
In 2018, more than 432,000 dental professionals from 99 countries participated in the program. Over 76 per cent – over 330,600 – of them were dentists – 11 per cent more than in 2017. Also, the number of participating students has grown by 12 per cent to a total of 33,220. Together, they took part in 11,835 courses in total, including live lectures, product trainings, Train-the-Trainer sessions, self-instructional courses, Webinars and hands-on trainings. For the latter the participants spend at least 33 per cent of the instructional time practicing skills. Compared to the 2017 statistics, the number of organized courses increase by almost ten percent. Hands-on seminars or participation course became more important with a rise of 31.5 percent to 3,396 courses in 2018. About half of them were held in Europe, the Middle East and Africa region and about one third in American markets. 

Innovative technologies meet traditional methods
The three key course topics include endodontics, implant dentistry and restorative dentistry. Furthermore, the dental professionals were interested in CAD/CAM, preventive dentistry and ultrasonic instrumentation and imaging. Besides traditional live lectures and product trainings, the Clinical Affair’s program comprises innovative active learning and engagement methods including simulated and patient demonstrations of procedures and workflows. 

On-demand courses have gained importance because they allow the participant to learn when they want and where they want to learn. And the use of state of the art webinar technology allows us to extend our reach and reach dental professionals across country boundaries. In addition to live webinars, the use of the on-demand format allows dental professionals to learn at their convenience and to earn CE credits where appropriate. “Compared to 2017, the number of on-demand webinar participants has increased almost fivefold in 2018.” explains Dr. Terri Dolan, Chief Clinical Officer of Dentsply Sirona, “We see the use of educational technologies as a great way to support our customers, introduce new clinical concepts, explain procedures and solutions, and then encourage participants to attend more extensive courses and hands-on learning based on their needs and interests. Providing these educational opportunities, paired with our leading materials and technologies, are key to empowering dental professionals and improving dental care and oral health.” 

Dentsply Sirona Academy offers triple excellence 
The success of the Dentsply Sirona Academy’s educational program is increasing annually. This positive result can be attributed to our understanding of customer needs and organizing courses in three important categories: clinical excellence, technical excellence and practice excellence. 

Clinical excellence offers scientifically sound, evidence-based education on key clinical topics and common clinical challenges facing dental professionals. The program covers topics such as prevention, restorations, orthodontics, endodontics, implantology and prosthetics. 

Technical excellence introduces Dentsply Sirona’s new technologies, innovative materials and workflow solutions, for example. These courses support dentists, technicians and team members in adopting and implementing technological innovation and workflows into their own practices. 

Practice excellence as the Academy’s third component focusses on administrative and management issues including front office and back office support to improve practice efficiency and patient outcomes: “A dental practice is only successful when all members of the team – dentist, dental hygienist, assistant, office manager, and laboratory technician – work together to support the needs of the patient,” says Dr. Dolan, “So, the practice excellence component supports the team performance of a high-quality dental treatment.“